SUNDAY, MARCH 18. 1956
HERALD AND NEWS. KLAMATH FALLS, OREGON
PAGE TirREE
New Softboard Plant To Boost Basin Economy
By MAX Vt'AUCIIOPE
The planned establishment of a
softboard plant in the Klamath Ba
sin by the Johns-Manville Corp.
marks the beginning of a new era
in the lumber industry for this
area. The plant will utilize about
50,000 cords of Jackpine. hitherto
considered a worthless forest pro-
Small Mill
Ikpc Mnrlprn
Equipment
An almost completely new saw
mill has been set up by the Green
Springs Lumber Company, Inc., at
Lincoln, on the Green Springs high
nay in Jackson County.
Although most of its output Is
sold in Med ford and Ashland, a
Klamath Falls firm is among the
firm's best customers, according
to tail j. scherer, who with O. K
Puckett founded the mill.
The new plant, which was begun
in August, 1954, was completed last
July. Except for some equipment
brought in from a mill at Keno,
it is all new.
The mill, one of the few gang
type mills in this part of the coun
try, has a capacity of 50,000 board
feet per eight hour shift. Normal
ly, a single shift Is operated.
- During the past winter, only
about two or three weeks of pro
duction were lost, mostly due to
high winds at Lincoln or to ice
in the mill pond.
The mill, which is presently cut
ting logs that have been decked
for a year and a half, normally
manufactures common sizes from
pine, cedar, white fir and red
(Douglas) fir.
The logging is being done by
Ned Putnam, who is generally
working in the area south of Lin
coln. In addition to the mill out
put, the sale of surplus logs is a
steady source of revenue. Last
year, the firm sold 32 million feet
of logs.
The hauling is being done by
Ray Scholer, who operates a truck
and troiler rig between Lincoln
and Medford, and Joe Dunson, who
makes the other hauls. About 00
per cent of the production is
sold in Me-Jtord. The major Klam
ath Falls buyer is the Home Lum
ber Company.
Log buyers Include Kalpine Ply
wood and the Modoc Lumber Com
pany in Klamath Falls as well as
an Ashland firm.
duct, each year with a possible
expansion above this figure in the
future.
Lumber production in Klamath
County soared from a low figure
after the establishment of the first
government owned water-powered
sawmill near old Fort Klamath in
1863 to a peak achieved in 1942
during World War n.
This high point of lumber pro
duction, spurred by the war needs
of the nation, found the mills of
Klamath County producing 874.
954.060 board feet in the record
year of 1942.
since that year, lumber proauc-
tion gradually decreased to a level
ing off balance point between
growth and production of 300 mil-
ion board feet. The Western Pine
Association estimated a total of
305 million board feet was pro
duced in Klamath County in 1954.
Forestry management experts
point out that the continued use
of present sound forestry practices
by the U.S. forest service ana
private operators should insure a
growth of 130 feet per acre on ine
nearly 2'2 million acres of forest
lands in the county. This will pro
duce the nearly 325 million feet of
merchantable timber necessary to
maintain the annual sustained yield
for the county. This figure does
not Include the Jackpine soon to be
utilized.
The peak number of employes
engaged in the logging-lumbering
Industry in the county was in 1941
with 6.886 employes. The peak in
production did not occur until the
following year. The lumber payroll
was $10,282,384 or an employe per
capita payroll of $1,493.
Since this peak period, a num
ber ,of factors have reduced the
number of mills operating in the
county: shortage of manpower dur
ing the war years, exhaustion of
log ownership, inability to com
pete economically, fluctuation of
markets, loss of demand for cer
tain types ol the commodity, liqui
dation of family holdings, and other
reasons.
In 1964 with the total of lumber
industry employes in the county
listed as 3,278. the payroll for
these employes was $15,171,253.
This represented an employe per
capita payroll of $4,628. With less
than half the employes and one
half billion feet less timber per
year the poyroll per employe had
risen three times.
The disappearance of the wood
burner beside many of the mod
ern mills of the county points out
the change in the wasteful meth
ods of lumbering which were so
familiar in the past all over the
West.
While raw .production has 'een
reduced in the past 15 years, a
new philosophy has come Into be
ing in relation to the Importance
of wood waste. Re-manufacturing
operations sash, door and trim
mills, mouldings and other import
ant marketable Items are being
produced out of what was once be
ing wasted by the mills.
Modern research has pointed the
way for the manufacturing of new
products from wood. Compressed
hardboards, softboards, cellulose
and pulp fibers are currently be
ing produced and improved by this
research. '
The correct use of our resources
by research has also aided the
economic factor of the county, and
the entire West, by providing full
time employment on a year-round
basis.
The boom years of the lumber
industry are regarded fondly by
many of the "olatlmeis" of the
county. However, with the mod
ern forest methods prevailing, and
the development of the "trash", to" a more stable economic period
Jackpine as a useful product, than were the hectic early years
Klamath County can look forward of the industry.
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